Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio is one of the few artists in the 17th century who have been famous when they were alive but have long been forgotten after their death. At the same time, he was one of the few artists who had exhibitions in most of the major art galleries in Europe in the 21st century.
Caravaggio was born in Milan in 1571. His father was the decorator of a local Marquis family and his mother was the daughter of a wealthy family. However, after the raging plague taking the life of Caravaggio’s parents, this warm family collapsed and the young artist decided to drift south.
Rome at the end of the sixteenth century, was the largest centre of declaration in the history of Christianity. The traditional Catholic Church in Italy did not defeat Protestantism, after the Mendicant Orders took office, the Bible printed by the Catholic Church was accused to be a false work of sincereness. The saint oil painting in the church was a filthy idol that disturbed the hearts of the people. All of them were considered to be removed and a large number of artworks and religious buildings were burned. But for the Holy See in the besieged city, the paintings are not only works of art, but also weapons that are favourable in redeeming the foolish soul of the general public. They are a strong defence against the Catholic faith.
Therefore, some people suggested Caravaggio study painting in its most common way: learn from a large number of ancient Roman statues and Raphael's masterpieces, can as soon as possible to comprehend the essence of art and the concept of beauty, using the brush to present the mysteries of heaven to the world. However, Caravaggio was born with anti-bones, and he sneered at the indiscriminate behaviour of the masters. He doesn't care what heaven is like, lack of food and shelters teach him to care only about the real world.
1595 was the turning point in Caravaggio's life.
The unscrupulous art-loving Cardinal, Scipione Borghese, became a big fan of him. He is the nephew of the pope, with a significant amount of wealth and lived in a magnificent palace, surrounded by a large number of poets, musicians, painters and sculptors with eyes full of classical and subtle secret slang.
In 1601, a wealthy judge commissioned Caravaggio to paint a "Death of the Virgin" for the Roman slum chapel. According to the Catholic doctrine, the ascension of Jesus' mother has nothing to do with death, just like her conception and childbirth, it is a miracle that was unrelated to the flesh. Think about it, if the Holy Mother can not enjoy the same treatment as her son, and float to the heavens under the embrace of angels, how could the general public who were hungry and cold to believe that she is the Virgin who can fight the disease and remedy?
Death of the Virgin, 1601–1606, Louvre, Paris.
However, Caravaggio was confident that he felt the same for the people. He was the spokesperson of suffering. The Virgin in his mind had no difference from the ordinary girl who stood by the neighbourhoods' door. The believers in his mind were the general and normal people. Therefore five years later, under his sensation, the Holy Mother was dead, with no dignity. Her complexion was blue and her body has swollen (it was said that he found a dead prostitute in the morgue to be his model). The shocked clerics did not dare to look directly at the painting, and the nuns were even more frightened and fainted.
Rejecting was considered the most polite reaction.
This rejection is a turning point in Caravaggio's life, He became moody. In addition to rebellious independence against the traditional art that has been passed down for a long time, he also changed his style and arbitrarily. He illegally carried weapons, insulted officers and soldiers, sought to scare the waiters, Injured his model's fiancee and committed other countless crimes. Back and forth to the prison, made him infamous. His cold sweaty body seemed to have been in violent and depressed captivity, and he could not be relieved. Even his closest friends could not explain why he could finish amazing religious paintings, but meanwhile, making these insane moves.
On the sweltering May night of 1601, Caravaggio committed a crime of deliberate murder. The victim was an authorized politician and this time, even the cardinal could not cover it. The court sentenced Caravaggio to death. The family of the deceased claimed that anyone who had cut his head would be rewarded, so He had to flee to a place that the Roman authorities could not reach, a place that police and bounty hunters could not find - Naples.
The patronage of his sponsors and admirers saved his life and made Caravaggio quit drinking alcohol and converging his words and deeds. During this period, the pain of drifting became the aphrodisiac of his art. From the paintings existing in the local churches and monasteries, the artist's brushwork is full of rare tenderness and compassion. Within a year, this infamous devil was reborn out of the hottest scent of the Neapolitan art world, which created the "Napoli-Caravaggio School of Painting" that influenced the following generations of Spanish artists.
Caravaggio, who hoped to return to the mainstream society, was going to wash away the murderous blood of his hand. He traveled across the sea to the island of Malta, wanted to exchange his painting for a position in the Paladins which is recognized by the Holy See and erase his unfortunate past. But the mischief of fate befell on him again. Soon, this poor artist who was eager to eliminate violence eventually wounded others again under the inexplicable impulse. Moreover, this time, the entire Paladin was provoked.
The old case was not over, and a new one was added. Caravaggio had to flee to Sicily on the other side of the sea. Although it was only eighty nautical miles from the Republic of Malta, it was at least under the jurisdiction of the Kingdom of Naples, and could temporarily avoid the pursuit of the enemy.
In 1609, Caravaggio was retaliated on his way back to Naples from Sicily, his face was seriously disfigured and rumours circulated in Rome that he was dead. As he was waiting for the call of death, the news came from Rome: the cardinal, Scipione Borghese, decided to give him a special pardon. The only way for Caravaggio to thank his benefactor for returning is painting. He endured the pain and forced himself to produce three masterpieces which spread through the ages. He was ready to hand them over to those who had the power to grant or withhold pardons, hoped Borghese could mediate a pardon and in exchange for works by the artist.
In the July of 1610, Caravaggio with a serious injury, packed his bags with the paintings which would be used to exchange for his freedom and ultimately started his return trip to Rome to receive the pardon. However, on the way home, the ship was routinely inspected in the western suburbs of Rome. Whether the customs had not received any special notice from Caravaggio, or they just wanted to corrupt some money. In short, this hapless artist was taken as a fugitive by the port guard and threw into the jail. After spending every single coin he has to get out of jail, Caravaggio found that the ship he had boarded had already left, and the important gift to be given to the pope remained on the ship.
The penniless painter desperately rushed north in the hot summer sun, hoping to catch the ship at the next port. But in the malaria epidemic area that must be passed through, he eventually fell. 39 years old Caravaggio, like his parents, failed to escape the curse of the plague, in a church hospital near Rome, swallowed his last breath alone.
This wired artist who played the key role of transforming the Renaissance to the Baroque period, could never have imagined that his strong contrast between the light and dark, and his stage lighting in the dark background, will be crowned by the descendants The "Caravaggio concentrating method" has had an extremely important influence on the masters such as Rubens, Vermeer, Rembrandt and Velasquez.
David with the Head of Goliath, 1609–1610, Galleria Borghese, Rome.
Freya with the Head of Caravaggio, 2019, Ontario, Canada.
"David with the Head of Goliath" is a self-portrait that has never been seen before. In the picture, David did not have a single trace of defeating the enemy's joy to carry Goliath's giant head, which was Caravaggio's painting according to his own appearance. The sword in David's hand was engraved with the Latin abbreviation, "Humble Kills Pride", and David, who had no arrogance of winning, but with his brow locked and dejected. The two faces presented by both sides are extremely depressing, and only the darkness from the inner heart of the artist filled the space.
Unfortunately, when the work had not arrived at the cardinal, its author had already died on the way from Naples to Rome. His friend had announced that Caravaggio died because of malaria. However, there are still later scholars who believe that he was murdered by the enemy or the Knights.
Caravaggio's works range from the original realizationist style to the over-exaggerated and almost insane Baroque style. This is exactly the portrayal of his life. His life was from the sullen real life to the entrance of the hell which only left a trace of light.
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